


Practice Match

by Sakiyama_Shuujis



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Ina11 Writing Exchange, Kidou does not like talking about his feelings, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, SO MUCH FLUFF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23745277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakiyama_Shuujis/pseuds/Sakiyama_Shuujis
Summary: It's the first practice match of high school, and Kidou doesn't know how to handle playing against Raimon.
Relationships: Endou Mamoru/Kidou Yuuto
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Practice Match

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kalutoooi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalutoooi/gifts).



> For the ina11 writing exchange- I hope you like it!!  
> (This is also my first time posting on AO3 so I apologise in advance if there's any issues with formatting/etc)

“Hey! Kidou!”

Sakuma and Genda entered the changing rooms, spotting Kidou who had just finished changing. The two were in a seemingly good mood, although Kidou didn’t quite trust Sakuma’s mischievous grin.

“You’re unusually late,” Genda called

Kidou started an apology, only to be interrupted by an excited Sakuma.

“Oh who cares, have you heard the news Kidou?”

“Heard what?” Kidou sighed, he’d had enough of Sakuma’s teasing yesterday after he-

“We have a friendly match, coach just told us,” Genda informed him, giving Sakuma a cautionary glance. One that was completely lost on Sakuma of course.

"Against your boyfriend~" Sakuma grinned, giving Kidou a playful nudge as he tried to stammer out a reply, ignoring the warmth in his cheeks.

"We- we're playing against Raimon?"

Sakuma giggled at his friend's embarrassment, and Kidou quietly glared at him from beneath his goggles. Smiling at their silent bickering, Genda stepped between the two.

"Yeah, this will be your first proper match against Endou in a while, right?"

"Oh, Kidou, how will you manage?" 

“I’ll manage perfectly fine, shut up,”

Sakuma gave him an accomplished smirk, but it slowly faded into concern as the other boy fell silent. He gave a quick glance to Genda, who had already noticed his change in demeanour.

“Hey, you sure there’s nothing you need to talk about?” He asked, offering a sympathetic smile

“No, no I think…” Kidou trailed off, diverting his gaze and folding his arms, “I just need some time to think about something…”

With that he left the changing rooms, the other two exchanging worried murmurs as he did. He couldn’t help but feel a little silly over the anxiety creeping into his mind, it’s just a practice match, it’s just a practice match, _a practice match-_

He absentmindedly stumbled through practice, though only Sakuma and Genda seemed to notice his subpar movements and shaky at best concentration. 

He couldn’t help it, his head filled with worry after worry. The last time he played a real match against Endou, he had still been under _his_ influence- no, no, don’t think about that, _anything but that_. He ran a hand under his goggles, half-heartedly rubbing his eyes with his palms to distract himself. Kidou knows he’s changed, he’s grown in both ability and as a person, but that was all alongside Endou. Playing against him, against Raimon... it felt wrong. He had gotten so used to relying on his teammates in Raimon and Inazuma Japan, he was still yet to adjust to his new team at Teikoku. Even with familiar faces, and with Sakuma still by his side, he missed them. He missed Gouenji’s quick thinking, Kazemaru’s fiery competitiveness, Haruna and the other manager’s constant support. But most of all, he missed Endou- his enthusiasm, determination, his smile. 

He could manage by himself, of course he could, but it wasn’t the same. He missed their football. 

He sighed, doing his best to put his thoughts aside and drag himself through the remainder of practice. 

  
  
  


\---

  
  


As soon as he reached his room, Kidou pried off his goggles and flopped down onto his bed, reaching for his phone. A soft smile graced his tired features as he saw a notification light up his screen- a message from Endou.

  
  


_Kidou Kidou Kidou have you heard about the match??? :D_

  
  


The boy’s usual jovial nature shone through even in his text messages, and something about it made Kidou feel so _soft_. God, this boy was going to kill him one day.

It hadn't been long since the school year had started, but Kidou had easily settled in at Teikoku high school. Whilst all of his friends from Raimon went to different schools, he remained in contact with a majority of them, especially Endou. In fact, after a delicate, mostly stammered confession from Endou during the holidays, the boys found themselves closer than ever. Despite going to different schools, they still found a lot of time to hang out with each other. Even if dates were just helping each other with homework and cuddling, they valued their time together, and Kidou couldn’t be happier to be with him.

  
  


_I have, I hope you’re all training hard_

_Haha, of course we are!!! You have been too, right?_

_Certainly, we have a pretty formidable opponent._

_Well, we do too!! Kazemaru and I have even been working on a new hissatsu for this!!_

_Hey, you shouldn’t disclose such information to the enemy so readily._

_Sorry sorry!! I’m just so excited about it!!!! Plus I’m so used to talking to you about this, it's gonna be a hard habit to break :(_

_Well, I’ll let it slide this time, but you won’t be getting any information from me in return._

_Kidouuu that’s not faaaiiirrr_

_Hey, it’s not my fault you told me._

_Well, we’re just gonna have to practice extra hard to make up for it. We’re gonna win, y’know?_

_Good, and don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re my boyfriend._

_I wouldn’t dare! Ahh I can’t wait to play against you again, it’s been so long_

  
  


Again, huh? The nerves were back. The subtle unease had grown, sinking into each of his thoughts. He was starting to dread the match, the very idea leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Playing against those so important to him, especially his boyfriend of all people- it just didn’t sit well with him. He continued texting Endou, anxiously fiddling with his covers in a vague attempt to distract himself. 

Their conversation had trailed off into whatever strange observations Endou had made that day, as it usually did, but Kidou remained restless. He tapped his heel against the bed and turned over the possibilities in his mind. He should probably mention something to Endou, he would only be met with reassurance, he knows this. He knows Endou wouldn’t want him to bottle it up but was it wasn’t that important, right? He didn’t want to bother Endou with his trivial concerns, and besides, he was still quite enjoying watching him argue that baked beans should be measured in litres. 

By the time they both bid each other goodnight, Kidou was no closer to an answer than he was before. He yawned. It was exhausting, flip-flopping between worrying and berating himself for being ridiculous. He shoved his bag off his bed and got up, deciding to turn in for the night. Hopefully he wouldn’t feel so jittery in the morning.

  
  


The rest of the week leading up to the match passed without event, and Kidou managed to shelf his worries during practice.

But the closer it got the more the dread wrapped itself around his mind. 

He talked to Endou almost every day, yet he hadn’t brought up the match once since the day it was announced. He avoided talk of it as much as possible. Even now, the night before the match, he just idly watched as Gouenji and Endou argued over something trivial, much to the entertainment of the others in the group chat. 

Just as he was about to switch his phone off it started to ring. It was Sakuma- at this time of night? Sakuma usually slept quite early, especially before matches. 

Reluctantly, Kidou answered.

“Hello? Sakuma, what are you doing up at this time?” 

“I could ask you the same,” Sakuma replied, his voice scratchy. He yawned and continued, “Look, I know you don’t like talking about your feelings but you’ve been kinda… distracted during practice recently, and I also know you don’t want to lose the match tomorrow, what’s up?”

Kidou paused. Had it been that obvious? 

“And just so you know, I won’t let you say it’s nothing so don’t you dare try to-”

“Okay! Fine” Kidou sighed and sat down on his bed, fiddling with the sleeves of his pyjamas whilst he tried to find the right words. “I’m just… worried about the match,” 

He waited for a reply but none came. He didn’t want to elaborate but god, Jirou can be so _stubborn._

“I… I haven’t played against End- against Raimon in so long and I don’t know how to handle playing against people so important to me… especially Endou...” He moved his right hand up to steady his other, holding the phone. When did he start shaking? “It’s a bit like Shin Teikoku but… less high stakes,” 

“And have you talked to Endou about this?”

“Wh-What? Of course not, I don’t need to-”

“Kidoouu…” Sakuma groaned, interrupting his stammering.

An awkward silence fell across the line, and Kidou didn’t need to see Sakuma to know he was probably glaring. After what felt like an eternity, Sakuma finally spoke up.

“Hey, Kidou, promise me you’ll speak to him before the match tomorrow,”

“Of course,” A small smile softened his worried features, he was glad Sakuma cared about him.

“Good, and just remember I _will_ force you to if you refuse,”

“I know, I know,” 

They both laughed. 

“Anyway, Sakuma, you should go to sleep, you sound tired,” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Sakuma sighed “What are you, my mother?”

“Well, I am older than you,” Kidou teased. 

“Whatever, night Kidou,”

“Night.”

Kidou turned off his phone and laid down on his bed, finally feeling relaxed for the first time in a week. 

  
  


\---

  
  


Kidou sat in the changing rooms, watching the clock as the rest of his team chatted leisurely. The longer he stared at it, the slower it seemed to go. The match wasn’t due to start for another hour, but Raimon should be arriving soon. He gently traced the hem of his cape, bored of just sitting there. He wasn’t really sure why he still wore it- he had assumed he’d stop wearing it by high school. Perhaps it was childish, but he was quite attached to it, and he enjoyed the dramatic flair. 

The bench shifted as two people sat down next to him. Reluctantly, Kidou lifted his gaze from the clock to see his two friends.

“Hey, Kidou, when you finish sulking you’ll be pleased to know that Raimon have arrived,” Sakuma said, resting his arms on his legs.

“Already?” Kidou ignored Sakuma’s quip, finding strange difficulty in keeping his voice calm even with such a short reply. 

“They’ll be in the east wing, you need to talk to Endou, right?” Genda asked, much to Kidou’s surprise. Of course Sakuma told him, he tells him everything. Not that Kidou minded.

“Yeah, I should do that now I suppose,” Kidou stood up and turned to face the other two.

“Good, and you better not wimp out of it at the last minute, or I swear I’ll-”

“He won’t, Jirou” Genda chuckled, “You got this Kidou,”

“Yeah, good luck,”

“Thanks, you two,” Kidou said with a faint smile, and left the room. 

  
  


As he made his way over to the east wing, he went over what he planned to say. It was simple, he just had to ask to speak to Endou alone and then… speak to him. Okay, so maybe there were a few holes in his plan but it was a good start. He could figure it out, surely. 

He walked in silence, mulling over his thoughts without paying any attention to his surroundings aside from a periodical glance to check he was going the right way. His hurried footsteps matched his frantic heartbeat as he grew more and more nervous, grabbing the hem of his cape to ground himself. Frustratedly, he pursed his lips and sighed as he turned a corner, only to immediately crash into someone coming the other way.

Kidou ran a hand beneath his goggles as a dull pain ran around his eyes (god, these goggles aren’t the least bit practical outside of matches, are they?) and tiredly mumbled an apology.

“Oh, Kidou?”

He looked up at the person and sighed in relief.

“Endou,” He smiled and took his goggles off, briefly noting that Endou was still in his school uniform. It was quite different from the middle school uniform, a simple white shirt paired with a tie and a blazer, the school insignia on the pocket. Such formal clothing always seemed so ill-fitting on Endou. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be getting changed?”

“W-well, actually I was looking for you,” Endou laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head with his hand, “I uh, wanted to talk to you before the match…” 

“What a coincidence, I was trying to find you as well,” 

“Huh? What for?” 

“I… well…,” Kidou murmured, refusing to meet his boyfriend’s gaze, “I missed you”

Kidou could barely finish the sentence before Endou’s arms were around him in a tender hug, his face buried in the crook of his neck. (He couldn’t help but notice how Endou had to lean down slightly- he swore they were the same height not that long ago.) Blushing, Kidou returned the gesture.

“I missed you too, Kidou,” He could hear the happiness in his voice, even as his words were muffled by his cape. Softly, Kidou smiled and rested his head on Endou’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, relishing in the affection, but it could never feel like long enough. Endou swayed them gently until they were both laughing quietly; they parted but still rested their arms over each other.

Kidou broke the comforting silence between them. “What did you want to speak to me about?” 

“Oh, right, well…” He trailed off, a faint nervousness tracing his face, before slumping over Kidou.

“Endou!” 

“I was just nervous, that’s all,” he punctuated his thoughts with a gentle kiss to Kidou’s forehead, “It feels weird playing against you, y’know? You… you’re so important to me, I just wish it was the same as it was last year when we could always be there for each other. I miss having your back and… just having you there,”

Kidou stared silently, completely dumbfounded. His worries, his fears that had been tormenting him all week- they were mutual? He could almost laugh. Almost. 

“I- I’m probably just being ridiculous! But I- no, ah sorry, I-”

“It’s okay Endou, I’ve been feeling the same,”

“Y-you have?” Endou sighed with relief, laughing to himself a bit, “I guess that makes it easier,”

Kidou only hummed in response and leaned into Endou’s embrace, still reluctant to open up. The other boy ran his calloused hands through his braids and rested his cheek on his forehead, doing his best to make sure he was comfortable.

“Wanna talk about it?” 

Ah.

“Ha, not really, but Sakuma did threaten me into this, I wouldn’t want to disappoint him,” He paused, trying to collect his thoughts and the words he planned earlier. He had to fight the urge to put his goggles back on. “It’s not that different, I miss you… and the rest of Raimon as well. Of course, I value my friends here just as much, but it’s different. And playing against you again, a proper match that is, it makes me worry that…” He presses his face into Endou’s uniform, “That I haven’t changed, that without you I can’t play my football, _our_ football… it’s just not the same without you,”

A warm hand on his cheek lifted his face as Endou smiled warmly at him. Only then did Kidou recognise his erratic heartbeat and trembling hands.

“Oh, Kidou…” He delicately brushed his cheek with his thumb, “You should have told me,”

“Hey, you should have too,”

“Haha, I know… but…” His eyes softened with fondness, “You don’t have to worry at all,”

His gaze was full of nothing but pure and simple love, and Kidou finally felt himself at ease.

“You have changed, so much, Kidou. And you’ve done it all yourself- you really are one of the strongest, most amazing people I’ve ever met- I guess that’s why I love you so much,” he moved his hand to hold Kidou’s, pressing a reassuring warmth into it, “You really are incredible Kidou, and no matter what you do it will always be your football, whether I’m there or not, so let’s just have fun in the match today, yeah?”

For a moment, everything seemed to stand still, like a serene, picturesque painting of love. A mellow river of affection washed away all of his lingering doubts and flowed through his heart- the way Endou could make him feel never ceased to amaze him.

“Y-yes, of course… I- um… thank you, Endou,”

“No worries, you deserve to know how amazing you are,”

Kidou couldn’t help but smile, moving his hand to cup his boyfriend’s face. It felt like so long since he last held Endou’s cheek is in his hand. A warm, swirling happiness swelled up inside him as Endou pulled their bodies closer in a tight hug. He delicately traced Endou’s jaw, quietly glancing at his lips.

He tried to speak, but all words seemed to get lost in the vast tenderness filling his mind as Endou’s hands ran along his back, drawing circling patterns of love and joy under his cape. 

The dim lights running through the corridors didn’t flatter many people, but Endou’s eyes shone brilliantly in a way that gave Kidou a small, yet bright spark of confidence. 

“Can I kiss you?”

He could feel Endou’s face heating up in his hand as he met his gaze with a giddy smile.

“Of course,”

Kidou melted into Endou’s arms as they pressed their lips together. Running his fingers through his soft hair, feeling his smile against his own, he couldn’t be happier. Parting, they pressed their foreheads together, still clinging to each other. 

“You know,” Endou started, “Talking to you about this was much easier than I thought it would be,”

“Yeah, wow, it really was- we’re both…”

“Idiots?”

“Yeah…” 

They laughed and pulled each other in for another kiss, soft and lingering.

“But I’m glad we could talk here… like this… this is nice,” Kidou said, blushing at his own words.

“It is… and god I’m so glad to finally get that off my chest. The whole team has been teasing me for the past week, since your my boyfriend and all, especially Gouenji,”

“Is that why you’ve taken to having so many petty arguments in the group chat recently?”

“Kidou those were incredibly important matters!”

“Of course, of course they were, please forgive my insolence,”

“Hmm… I could consider it,” He pulled a ridiculously exaggerated face, furrowing his brows and pouting- Kidou could only try to stifle his giggles, “Well, I say you’re forgiven,” He laughed, pressing a soft kiss on Kidou’s nose.

Kidou could stay like that forever, but he was starting to grow conscious of time.

“Hey, Endou, shouldn’t you be getting changed?”

“Oh!” Endou exclaimed, clearly panicked, “Ah you’re right, I should get going” He let go of Kidou and frantically looked around the corridor. After he seemed to figure his route back to the changing rooms, he turned to Kidou again.

“Well, we’ll meet after the match, right? After we win, of course,”

“I think you mean after we win, but yes,”

“Right, right…” he paused, “good luck kiss?”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to help the captain of the opposing team,” Kidou replied, leaning in nonetheless. Endou held his face in his hands and kissed him happily, before finally starting down the corridor.

“See you Kidou! I love you!” He called, looking back at Kidou with a stupid grin.

“I love you too, Endou,”

  
  


\---

  
  


The two teams lined up opposite, waiting for the match to begin. Kidou’s newfound confidence was reflected in his team, brimming with determination. As the two teams shook hands, they exchanged bold glances of hearty rivalry, a few familiar faces shooting Kidou and Sakuma brash remarks. As Kidou and Endou faced each other, Endou pulled the other boy forward, almost mirroring a scene from their last match.

“Hey, Kidou,”

“Hm?”

“Let’s play football!”

  
  
  



End file.
